After driving alone to and from therapy for a few months in my husband’s SUV, I felt I was ready for my independence and responsibility of becoming a car owner again. I think my husband also needed those few months to realize I was safe. Looking back, it was all in God’s perfect timing.

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

Proverbs 16:9

It had been nice not having a car and insurance payment to stress about. However, I needed the feeling of having some independence again.

Many view a vehicle as a means for transportation and fundamentally that is accurate. After having a stroke, I was a little apprehensive to drive. Partially because I doubted my ability and was scared. Lucky for me, my family was always willing to take me where I needed to go. I reverted back to being in a safe place and having someone chaperone me around. But after a year of that, I started to lose a sense of self.

Honestly, I didn’t want to be on someone else’s timeline. Don’t you just want to do your own thing, when you want , where you want, how you want. My stroke took that from me and I wanted, NEEDED to have that independence again. Even if it meant it came with a payment.

Steps I took to buy a vehicle

• Medically being cleared by my therapist and doctor. This really depends on the effects from your TBI or injury. In my case, I currently do not have control over the left side of my body (arm, hand and leg). In most states, your license is not revoked if you have a brain injury. This doesn’t get reported to DPS.
• Consciously being cleared to drive. In the unfortunate event I had an accident, it was important for me to protect my and my family’s assets. I did not want be held liable and sued by some money hungry lawyer. I have taken all the precautions and tests I needed, in addition to retaking my driving test to back up my cognitive and physical ability to be safe on the road again. I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder every time a cop car passes me. See my earlier blog post
• Family support. I wanted my family to support my decision and feel safe with me being back on the road again.
• Decide on type of vehicle – take in consideration the size and height. Consider any body limitations, find something that would allow ease of entering and exiting. I’m 5’1” so climbing up into my husband’s SUV was doable but on a daily basis, I would prefer the smaller, lower to ground type vehicle.
• Trunk space – allow room for a wheelchair or walker, if needed
• Cost – what I knew I could afford for monthly vehicle and insurance payments. Factor in gas and vehicle expenses.

The last time I went car shopping was pre- COVID when car interest rates were much lower. I recognized a lot had changed and being that I couldn’t test drive the car myself (due to the need of adaptive equipment on the car) I did most of my homework online. I also wanted something I was familiar with so I opted to get a USED version of the same make and model of my previous vehicle. This way I was already familiar with the car’s features and knew where everything was. It was important that I felt comfortable driving in my vehicle.

Now that I narrowed down what type of vehicle I wanted, it made the process so much easier. I have been super self conscious after my stroke and wasn’t in the mood to deal with a sales person especially since I was already familiar with the features. I didn’t want annoying sales cakes either so I downloaded several phone apps and started viewing what was available. This way I was able to browse and research on my own time and pace.

The 2 phone apps I found the most user friendly was Carvana and CarMax. The pictures on both apps were all taken in high resolution so you can zoom in to see areas of imperfections. Additionally, both provided a CarFax that showed how often the vehicle had been serviced, if the vehicle had been in an accident or had any repairs performed and how many owners the car had been through. Both showed me vehicles in other states and charged a reasonable delivery fee to have them shipped to where I lived. If it was in a surrounding city there was zero delivery fee. The biggest difference between the 2 apps I could tell was Carvana was truly an online purchase. I would pick it up from a ‘vending machine’ or have it delivered to my house. Whereas CarMax shipped to a CarMax dealership and I would work with a real person to go over any additional questions and finalize paperwork.

All I did was set up several filters on the app regarding make, model, year, color, features, etc. and I was set to browse around. Once I got a feel for what my vehicle would cost, I shopped different financial institutions for the lowest interest rate before securing a loan.

In the end, I chose to use CarMax. I found my vehicle and paid for the delivery fee for it to be shipped to the closest CarMax by me. I was not obligated to buy the vehicle but if I decided I didn’t want it, I would lose my delivery fee. Upon paying for the delivery, a live CarMax representative called me to ask if I had any questions he could answer. After ‘ordering’ my car, I received updates on where the vehicle was in the delivery process. It arrived in about 5 days to the dealership and they performed a thorough inspection, the necessary service checks, maintenance and cleaning before calling me to set up an appointment to come see the vehicle. Once it was ready, my sales person, Brandon G. reached out to me. He asked if I had any questions he could answer. He was very professional and even FaceTimed me so I could see the vehicle. We set up an appointment for me to come test drive and see the finish up the paperwork.

My husband came with me to check out the vehicle. Because the car did not have the adaptive equipment installed for me to test drive, my husband test drive the car. The vehicle was exactly as pictured in the photos down to the little imperfections I was already aware of from the pictures. Even the mileage was the same. There was a minor issue with a side trim and car tint but their service department was very willing to fix everything I pointed out. Additionally, they allow you to take the car for 30 days (up to 1500 miles) to decide if your car is the perfect fit for your life. If not, bring it back for a full refund.

The remaining process was fairly quick. Since I was already approved for the vehicle through my financial institution, I gave them a drafting document from my credit union, signed a few papers and we were done in about 15 minutes.

The process at CarMax was incredibly simple and painless. I would highly recommend it for anyone that is in a similar situation

I purchased my adaptive equipment through different vendors and waited for them to be installed before driving.

Both qualified devices were recommended by my community driving instructor. The steering knob was purchased through https://www.indemedical.com/ and the turn signal adapter was through Amazon.

Good luck on your return to driving and gaining back your independence! I hope you find this information helpful and I’m excited to hear how your journey is going. Please leave me a comment if you have any questions.